Perfect, thanks!
hoping that you can excuse my not finding that page -
the subject of "Automatically check for configuration changes or new software versions" did not sound like it directly involved what I was looking for at the time.
have a great day!
EDIT: re-reading that page, you mention:
NOTE: Please be aware that if ZTP is being used this parameter is ignored!
However that sounds like "if you have manually enabled it", not "it is on by default and you have to explicitly turn it off to use prov.usercontrol"